The new round of American sanctions against Iran came to effect officially today, with the US officials declaring that they’re trying to change the Islamic Republic’s behavior. For their part, Iranian officials say they have no problem with entering talks with the US, but have conditions for such a move.

The mayor of a Utah city was killed during an attack in Afghanistan while he was serving with the state’s National Guard, the town’s temporary mayor Brent Chugg confirmed to CBS Salt Lake City affiliate KUTV. North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor died Saturday in an apparent “insider attack” in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

As part of its efforts to nullify the effects of Washington’s increasingly hostile moves, Iran has been trying to expand ties with the neighboring countries. While the Iranian foreign minister is in Istanbul for tripartite talks with his Turkish and Azeri counterparts, Iran’s top military commander is set to hold high-ranking talks with the Azeri military officials.

While the United States has been trying to increase economic and political pressures on Iran, after withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal, Russia continues to signal its willingness for cooperating with the other remaining parties of the deal to keep it alive and to help Iran overcome the negative impacts of the US policies.

US Energy Secretary Rick Perry will meet counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Russia starting on Monday, sources familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration encourages oil-producing countries to keep output up two months before it is due to renew sanctions on Iran’s crude exports.

Fanatical Brexiteers are bound to be disappointed. The European Union and the United Kingdom are so deeply interdependent that a real divorce is, in practice, impossible. Forget “taking back control.” What the U.K

While trying to keep Iran in the 2015 nuclear deal after the US withdrawal, the European parties of the deal sporadically make claims on the necessity of widening the scope of negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Meanwhile, Iran once again reiterates its red line, not to negotiate on its defense capabilities.

Israel is reportedly planning to close the only pedestrian border crossing into the Gaza Strip on Sunday, despite an earlier announcement that it was in the “final stretch” of reaching a ceasefire agreement with the Islamist faction Hamas that governs the coastal enclave.

While the United States has geared for applying more pressures on Iran by increasing the economic sanctions, two world great powers, Russia and China, vow to continue their economic interactions with the Islamic Republic. The move could deal a blow to Washington’s plot to isolate Tehran.

While increasing pressures on the Islamic Republic on a day by day basis, the United States claims it’s willing to enter talks to reach a comprehensive deal with Tehran. However, once again denied the possibility of any new negotiations with the US, vowing to resist the pressures.

The Russian Embassy in the United Kingdom on Tuesday urged London to provide Moscow with access to the materials of the Amesbury poisoning incident investigation, noting that UK authorities deliberately restrict communication of all victims of poisoning incidents with the outside world.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said that any negotiation with the United States to solve the existing mutual problems is an “obvious mistake,” official IRNA news agency reported.